Iris identification

Hello all,
        As a photographer and editor for 'ROOTS' I am often embroiled in an
identification project involving unknown iris. One of the ID tools in my
bag of tricks is the texture veining found on many iris flowers. I believe
this texture veining is as unique an identifier of iris as our fingerprints
are of humans.
        The back cover of the October 1995 AIS 'Bulletin' displays a photo
of Oyez (C. G. White 1938). I have in my photo collection, a mug shot of a
purported Oyez, growing in a friends garden. The authenticity of his
cultivar was called into question by an individual familiar with Arils.
Comparison of the photo of his iris with the photo of Oyez depicted on the
Bulletin's cover leaves no doubt that the two iris are the same even though
the two photos show slightly different form and color. The veining is
absolutely identical.
        I put a short clip in a past 'ROOTS' discussing texture veining --
I had hoped to elicit comment and discussion. So far, there has been a
deafening silence. Perhaps it is common knowledge that texture veining is
an invariant? I have never seen a discussion of this in print. Just to stir
the pot a bit I have included the 'ROOTS' article here. Has anyone on this
list used texture veining in IDs or is this such an exotic and arcane
subject it is outside everyday iris experience?

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                                  INVARIANTS

When you compare the photo of any given iris from your garden with that
iris photographed a year later you might suspect a nefarious iris-napper
stole your ____ and substituted a ringer. However, age of the flower, time
of day, sun or overcast, vigor of clump, angle of light, camera angle, wind
or lack of wind, light reflected from a colored wall, misting rain or dry,
different brands of film, same brand-different film types, age of the film,
flash or no flash, excessive heat and different lenses; all these factors
can radically change the look of an iris photo. What to do? Depend on the
'invariants' when comparing two photos of a variety taken at widely
differing times. These non changing guideposts will proclaim, "Yes, despite
all, we are the same iris."

An "I'd recognize you anywhere feature," is typified by the frothy white
extension of the beard on Amethyst Flame. Not all flowers have this
prominent a discriminator but a sharp and educated eye will usually find
something other than color to give a variety a distinctive look. This
'feature' can be as subtle as the 'texture veining' found on many
varieties. A black and white photo of Great Lakes in a 1941 catalog
displays the identical veining found in my photo of Great Lakes taken in
our garden in 1995.

The color of Marion Shull's '20s painting of Morning Splendor and the color
of your '90s photo may well have little in common. However, comparing the
unusually wide haft markings depicted in Shull's painting and the
corresponding markings in your photo of Morning Splendor leaves you with a
comfortable certainty that the artist's and your flower are the same --
separated only by the gulf of a lifetime. MBL

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Best regards,

Mike Lowe, Virginia, USA
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